March 2, 2014

Q: What did the dancing girl ask the ascetic to do? Why did he decline her invitation?

A: The dancer was attracted by the ascetic's austere handsomeness. So she invited him
to her house and enjoy the pleasures of life. But the ascetic was not inclined to bodily pleasures and earthly possessions. He, therefore declined her invitation but
promised to go to her when the time was ripe (when she actually needed his help).

Q: "Woman, go on your way...." Do you think 'your way' has any special significance?
What was her way? What was his way?

A: The words, 'your way' of Upagupta have a special significance. Upagupta asks the dancing girl to get on with her worldly pleasures. She is too young to renounce material and physical pleasures. Her way was to enjoy the pleasures of life whereas his way was to lead a simple and spiritual life. As a saint, he renounced the worldly pleasures.

Q: "Who are you, merciful one?" asked the woman. Who is asking the question? Who is
the 'merciful one'? When had the woman met him first?

A: The dancing girl is asking the question. the 'merciful one' is Upagupta. One night in August, when Upagupta slept on the dust by the city wall of Mathura, the dancing girl came there with a lamp. That was her first meeting with Upagupta.

Q: 'The time, at last, has come to visit you, And I am here". Who said this? To whom? In what sense had the time come?

A: Upagupta said this to the dancing girl. The dancing girl suffering from a deadly disease and she was driven away from the town. She lay in the shadow of the city wall suffering miserably. It was the ripe time for the ascetic to come to serve her.